In the food preparation industry, particularly within the fast-food industry, various types of apparatus, equipment, or appliances are utilized to cook or prepare various different types of food such as, for example, burritos, Panini sandwiches, crunch wraps, and the like. The apparatus, equipment, or appliances that are conventionally employed are either flat grills which effectively cook or toast one side of the food, and then they cook or toast the other side of the food when the food is flipped or turned over onto its other side, upon the flat grill. Alternatively, clam-shell apparatus or appliances have also been employed which can effectively cook or toast both sides of the food simultaneously as a result of the food being placed upon a lower food support cooking platform or grill when the clamshell apparatus is disposed at its open position, and then the clamshell apparatus is pivotally moved to its closed position so as to bring the upper food cooking grill portion into contact with the food. The operational drawback or disadvantage of such apparatus, equipment, or appliances, however, is the fact that the cooking time is effectively monitored and necessarily controlled by means of the personnel doing the grilling or cooking, with the result that sometimes, the food is undercooked, overcooked, or even burned, neither one of which operations and resulting conditions produces a satisfactory and tasty end food product. In addition, it is also sometimes desired to simultaneously prepare or cook or re-thermalize different types of food which may require different cooking temperatures and different cooking times.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved grilling appliance for cooking or re-thermalizing food wherein the aforenoted disadvantages or operational drawbacks characteristic of conventional cooking apparatus, equipment, or appliances are effectively overcome or eliminated. More particularly, a need exists in the art for a new and improved grilling appliance wherein the cooking process or procedure is effectively controlled in such a manner that the food being cooked or prepared or re-thermalized cannot be undercooked, overcooked, or burned. Still more particularly, a need exists in the art for a new and improved grilling appliance wherein the entire cooking procedure or process is automatically controlled from the beginning of the cooking cycle to the end of the cooking cycle and is predeterminedly controlled in light of the particular food product that is being cooked. Yet further, a need exists in the art for a new and improved grilling appliance wherein multiple independently controlled conveyors, defining multiple independently controlled cooking lanes, are required in order to meet the need for simultaneously preparing or cooking different types of foods.